PBS America is a British television channel derived from the American non-profit television network PBS. It is a joint venture between entrepreneur David Lyons and PBS Distribution, which owns the international rights to the bulk of PBS's output.[2]

PBS America operates much like BBC Worldwide, a profit-making enterprise managed separately from the main non-profit, publicly financed arm, that will ideally generate money for its parent.[3] It is provided by cable and satellite operators as part of their channel packages and carries advertising. Unlike PBS in the United States it does not solicit donations from viewers.

Contents

Availability

PBS America launched on 1 November 2011 (as PBS UK) via satellite on Sky and via cable on Virgin Media.[4][5] On 23 August 2011, PBS UK launched a placeholder channel called Rosa on Sky channel 231,[6] however they were able to acquire the more prominent channel 166 EPG slot from Information TV for use from launch.[7] On 28 October 2011, a barker channel for PBS UK was added to Virgin Media channel 243. The cable operator has also secured the rights to offer PBS content on its video on demand service, including the Virgin Media Player.[5]

On 19 April 2012, the channel's Sky EPG slot was put up for sale, with seven figure offers anticipated by broker Canis Media.[8] While PBS UK wasn't closing, they were considering moving from the Entertainment genre to Documentaries.[citation needed] On Virgin Media, the channel is already positioned in the equivalent Factual genre. On 16 July, Canis Media confirmed that PBS had received numerous offers for the slot but they had fallen below expectations. PBS decided to stay in the Entertainment genre, while remaining interested in moving genre and keeping the slot on the market.[9]

On 24 July 2013, PBS America moved to the Documentaries section on Sky channel 534, having sold its previous slot to UKTV.[10]

Programming

The channel consists of content drawn exclusively from PBS member stations,[12] both older and current for which it is able to secure the rights.[13] It doesn't make its own programmes in the UK, but a few of them are British productions which have been shown on PBS in the United States before being recycled back to the UK by PBS America, e.g. What the Ancients Did for Us.

The PBS America line-up heavily features documentaries and history programs such as American Experience, Frontline and Nova as well as Ken Burns documentary films such as Prohibition.[3][4] In total PBS America aired 500 unique hours of content in 2011 and will air 1000 hours in 2012.[7] Children's programming such as Sesame Street does not air on the channel because the market is "well served for kids' content".[7]

Branding and marketing

The channel's slogan is "Where television matters".[14]Channel 4's Channel 4 Sales division is the exclusive advertising sales representative for the network. The general manager of PBS UK said of the pick, "In the States, PBS is well-loved and trusted for its award-winning programming, so it was essential for us to select a company capable of delivering a high quality viewing experience throughout the ad-breaks as well. There's an obvious fit between our two brands and we're delighted to be represented by Channel 4."[14]

Branding and design agency Dunning Penney Jones was appointed to create the channel's on-air look and feel.[15] As well as repurposing the PBS branding used in the US, they created new idents specifically for the UK channel. The agency also designed four colour themes for each of PBS America's four programming strands for use on the channel, website and any off-air marketing.